Safety first is one of the most important criteria when it comes to safely braking a supercar. Especially when it comes to a super sports car like the Bugatti Chiron. Bugatti Automobiles SAS from Molsheim is the first company ever to test the production of a brake caliper using a 3D printer. The video "Test Bugatti Chiron caliper" shows the result.
The 8-piston monobloc caliper is not only the largest caliper in the automotive industry. The use of titanium as a material for the brake calipers of the Chiron is also being tested for the first time. To date, titanium has mainly been used as an alloy in the aerospace industry.
Bugatti Chiron brake caliper from the 3D printer
The new titanium caliper is 41 cm long, 21 cm wide, 13,6 cm high and weighs just 2,9 kg. Compared to the aluminum component currently used, which weighs 4,9 kg, Bugatti could save more than 40 percent in weight by using the new brake caliper in the vehicle, while at the same time having an even higher load capacity.
In total it takes 45 hours to make a caliper for the Bugatti Chiron is printed. The titanium powder is applied layer by layer. A total of 2.213 layers are required for the Chiron's brake caliper. With each layer, the four lasers melt the titanium powder according to the specified shape of the brake caliper. The material cools down immediately and the brake caliper takes shape.
After firing in the oven and processing the surfaces with a milling machine, a filigree component is created with material wall thicknesses between a minimum of just one and a maximum of four millimeters.
Tests for series use
The first tests for series use, for which there is currently no date, will start in the first half of this year. The engineer promises that the production times, especially in post-processing, will then be reduced step by step.
Frank Götzke, who is a senior engineer and involved in the development of the Chiron, and his team will present the results of their work to the group and its brands. "Bugatti is a leader in the Volkswagen Group when it comes to 3D printing development," emphasizes Götzke. “Everyone can and should benefit from our projects. This is also Bugatti's job as a group laboratory for applied high technology."
The four-minute video test Bugatti Chiron brake calipers shows you the high demands that the titanium brake calipers are subjected to. Bugatti puts a lot into technology leadership. Why get one now Buy Bugatti Chiron should, we will show you in one of our articles.
